FullMetal Alchemist: The Journey to the Gate
by KurosakiElric
Summary: Follow up to Conqueror of Shamballa The Elric brothers and Noah are on a mission- to track and destroy Huskisson's uranium bomb, and destroy the Gate to the Elric's home. With war brewing on both sides of the Gate, the brothers need to act fast if they are going to save both worlds.
1. Chapter 1

SOUTHERN GERMANY- 1926

"_Winry. . . Winry. . ."_

Alphonse sighed as he woke up. He looked over and saw his brother sleeping with his stomach out again, just as he used to. He sighed again as he went to pull the covers over him.

"_Winry. . . Winry. . ."_

Alphonse walked back over to his bed, as his brother, Edward continued muttering in his sleep. It was pretty dark, and Alphonse knew it was probably morning by the way the stars glistened in the sky. There was no light, so he couldn't check his watch. Alphonse remembered how Edward got angry when people called him short, and chuckled.

He rolled over and tried to fall asleep. He couldn't. He was now wide-awake.

_Thanks, Brother. Now I can't get back to sleep._

Alphonse walked silently down the stairs, pausing as they squeaked under the pressure.

"_Water, 35 liters. Carbon, 20 kilograms…"_ Edward was now muttering the ingredients for a human body in his sleep.

_Great. Now Brother has gone crazy._

Alphonse chuckled to himself as he continued along the spiral staircase towards the living room.

On the table in the corner, he saw a pile of books they had been studying the previous day. They were about rocketry. He lit himself a candle, and slowly began to read the book he'd been reading before.

Alphonse had to admit. Rocketry was pretty amazing stuff. He didn't know about astronomy back home, and he was learning about that now too.

Alphonse knew Edward was only studying rocketry still because of Alfonse Hiedrich. A Nazi soldier had killed Alfonse just a few years ago, and Edward was still depressed over it. Alphonse sometimes heard Edward muttering in his sleep about it. He'd asked the gypsy Noah about what had happened, since Edward wouldn't answer his questions. Alphonse could understand, however, what Edward was going through. He still hasn't told him about the death of their alchemy teacher, Izumi Curtis.

Noah was still asleep in her own room.

Alphonse couldn't concentrate. As much as he wanted to continue studying rocketry, it was very boring, and tiring in this time of night. He suddenly felt himself getting tired. As soon as he lay his head down on his book, he fell asleep.

XXX

A few hours later, Alphonse could hear someone bustling about in the kitchen. He raised his head, and saw Noah busying herself with breakfast for the boys.

"Oh, Ed muttering in his sleep again Al?" asked Noah.

"Yeah." Muttered Alphonse.

Soon, the kitchen was filled with the delicious sent of bacon and eggs, and toast. The duo munched happily as Edward stared at his food. Noah noticed, and tried to nudge him into eating something.

"I'm not hungry." He muttered sadly.

"Come on, Brother. You can't just sit there sulking." Said Alphonse.

"Come on, Ed. You haven't eaten at all yesterday. You need to keep your strength up if you two are going to get back to your world one day." Said Noah.

"It's pointless. We're never getting back." Sighed Edward.

"You can't say that, Ed." Said Alphonse.

"Mustang would have destroyed the Gate on his side by now. I'm sure of it. We just have to destroy that uranium bomb and ours. Then what? Then what do we do? Study rocketry the rest of our lives?"

Alphonse stayed silent. He had a point. What would they do then?

"I'm not hungry either." Alphonse muttered, pushing his plate away.

"What's gotten into you two?" asked Noah.

Edward sighed, and shook his head.

"Nothing." He muttered.

He got up and left.

Alphonse sighed sadly, and pulled his plate towards him sadly, and slowly began to finish his breakfast.

"What's with him, Al?" asked Noah.

"It's everything, Noah. Not returning to our world. Being stuck with automail again. The other Al's death. To him, it's all his fault."

"That's so sad." Muttered Noah.

"Yeah, it is." Said Alphonse. "But at least we're together. Ed and I. But there is one thing we learned the hard way, and that is that some memories aren't meant to leave traces. Humankind cannot gain anything without giving something in exchange."

"What does that mean?" asked Noah.

"It's the one base rule of alchemy. Some things aren't meant to be brought back using alchemy. We learned that the hard way to. We tried to bring back our mother from the dead. But the thing we brought back wasn't even human. They say that each time someone tries human transmutation, a _homunculus_ is born."

"A _homunculus_?" asked Noah.

"An artificially made human being." Said Alphonse.

Noah was shocked into silence.

"I must go. Brother would want help, seeing as he's been so tired these past few days."

Alphonse stood up.

"Thank you for breakfast, Noah." Said Alphonse as he left.

As Alphonse walked into the living room, he saw Edward reading a book. Rocketry again.

"You go and get some sleep, Al. I know I'm keeping you awake at night."

"If your sure, Ed."

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Alphonse walked up stairs, and went to sleep in minutes.


	2. Chapter 2

Amestris capital- Central-1923

The phone rang….

And rang..

And rang.

Roy Mustang was annoyed. The phone had been ringing almost all day, on and off. If it rang one more time… It was toast.

Roy glared at the phone, his head resting on his hands, daring it to ring again. Ever since he came back to Central, Roy had been the talk of the place.

"_They said he was an enlisted man."_

"_I wonder what happened to his eye."_

Yes. He knew what his officers were talking about behind his back. He scoffed and leaned back in his chair.

"Sir?"

Roy looked at the owner of the voice. It was Riza Hawkeye.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" asked Roy, his voice stern.

"You really need to get to your paperwork, sir." Sighed Lieutenant Hawkeye.

"I'll get to it later. It's no use concentrating with all the phone calls recently." Sighed Roy, rubbing his eyebrow.

Riza sighed and placed yet even more paperwork onto Roy's desk.

"You look terrible, sir. Perhaps you should get some sleep." Suggested Lieutenant Hawkeye.

"I'll be fine, Lieutenant." Sighed Roy, scoffing again. "You shouldn't worry about me too much."

"Right sir." Sighed Lieutenant Hawkeye.

Lieutenant Hawkeye walked out of the door, leaving Roy to himself again. He dozed off.

He saw FullMetal and his brother, Alphonse try to destroy the ship that had come through the Gate. Then he was gone. Both of them.

"I always knew you were still alive."

Roy jerked himself awake. Great. The phone was ringing again.

With a snap of his fingers, the phone was no longer recognizable, nothing but a melted puddle of plastic.

Riza Hawkeye ran into the room, no doubt attracted to the room by the explosion.

"Colonel! What the hell happened?!" Lieutenant Hawkeye shouted.

"The phone rang." Said Roy smugly.

Suddenly, Jean Havoc ran into the room, sweating and out of breath.

"Sir.." he said, breathing heavily. "The invasion.." he gasped.

Roy stood up so fast his chair fell. "What?" he shouted.

"It's begun." Gasped Havoc.

Roy looked down. Dammit he thought. Where are the Elric brothers when you need them?

Roy looked up, anger etched into his face. When he spoke, it was with authority.

"Havoc! I want you to get me Lieutenant Armstrong!"

"Yes sir!" said Havoc, rushing out of the room.

"Lieutenant Breda." He shouted. Breda stood at attention. "I want you to hold up defenses along the southern border. Make sure no one gets through."

"Yes sir!" shouted Breda before exiting.

"And me, sir?" asked Riza, her eyes locked onto Roy's.

"You're with me, Lieutenant." Said Roy.

"Yes, sir!" said Riza.

The pair stiffly walked out of the room, and halfway down the corridor, they ran into Lieutenant Armstrong and Havoc.

Roy and Riza stopped, as did Havoc and Armstrong.

"Lieutenant Armstrong?" asked Roy.

"What is it, Colonel?" asked Armstrong.

"The invasion. It has begun."


	3. Chapter 3

Germany- 1926

Munich

Alphonse awoke to the door being knocked on.

"Come on, Ed. Open up!"

Alphonse knew the voice. It sounded just like…

"Major Hughes!"

He went down the stairs and into the living room, only to find Ed in deep conversation with Hughes. It was amazing, Alphonse thought, how much this Hughes looked liked the Hughes that was from his world.

"An uranium bomb Ed? Are you sure?" sighed Hughes.

"Look Hughes. I know what I saw!" shouted Ed, slamming his fist on the table.

Hughes started laughing.

"Calm down Ed." He said, putting his hands up. "I was only making sure of what I heard. No need to be so uptight."

"By the way, Ed. You should really drink that milk. It will make you grow-"

_Big mistake_ sighed Alphonse. Ed exploded.

"What do you mean I'm so small you can only see me through a magnifying glass?!" Ed shouted.

"You know I never said something like that Ed." Sighed Hughes. His face turned serious. "Now this bomb you were talking about. What did it look like?"

Edward's expression changed. "I don't really remember much, Colonel. It was round, and it had a lot of knobs and dials on it."

Hughes sighed and straightened up his glasses. "That description. It sounds familiar. I remember seeing something like that in a research facility not to far from here."

"Really Colonel Hughes? Where is it?" asked Alphonse, now joining the conversation.

"Hey Alphonse." Said Hughes happily. He stretched out and relaxed in his chair. He suddenly leaned forward and had a happy expression on his face.

"Guess what?! Garcia is having a baby! She's so beautiful, she's…"

"Uh, Colonel Hughes? Maybe we should stick to the bomb right now." Sighed Edward., holding his hands up and an exasperated expression on his face.

"Right. Sorry Ed." Sighed Hughes and he lounged in the chair again, expression serious. "I'm sorry to say, but I really don't have any leads right now. The investigations department wont give me any details."

"What? You can't be serious!" shouted Edward.

"Easy Ed." Sighed Alphonse.

"As far as I can tell, it was in a research facility in Berlin." Sighed Hughes.

Suddenly the phone rang. Edward sighed and got up to answer it.

"Hello? Oh Fritz!" said Edward happily. "You back in Germany already?"

"Why yes Ed, I am. I was hoping you could stop in UFA. We can have tea and chat. I hear you're looking for some kind of bomb."

"Yeah sure." Said Edward. "Wait. How did you hear about the bomb?" he asked, his voice almost an angry whisper.

"When one travels as much as I have, one hears rumors. So Ed. Is it true?" asked Fritz.

"Yeah. It is." Whispered Edward. "It's a uranium bomb."

"Hmm.." sighed Fritz. "I still have that picture I showed you earlier. I can tell you the exact location where it was taken."

Edward's expression turned to complete shock.

"Yeah thanks. Is it OK if I bring some guests with me?" he asked, hurriedly.

"Of course Ed. I always have room in my house for guests." Said Fritz happily. "I'll see you in a few days."

The other line went blank, and Edward hung up his end.

He turned to Alphonse, a determined expression on his face.

"Al? We just hit a lucky break!" he said happily.

"That's great news Brother." Cheered Alphonse.

"Oh. There is something I should probably tell you about Fritz before you meet him Al. His double in our world…. Is Fuhrer King Bradley."

Alphonse gasped and looked up in shock.

"K..King Bradley?" Alphonse gasped.

"Don't worry Al." chuckled Edward. "He's harmless!"

"Yeah. Sure Brother." Sighed Alphonse.

"But he did tell me… That picture of the bomb he had. He knows it's location."


	4. Chapter 4

Amestris- 1923

Colonel Roy Mustang snapped his fingers. Each time he did, he sent a torrent of flames towards the opponent.

"How the hell did they get past Briggs?" shouted Roy as he snapped his fingers again.

"I'm not sure, sir." Sighed Riza as she fired.

"Let's just hope it doesn't rain on us." Sighed Roy.

"Yes, sir. You are useless in the rain." Sighed Riza.

Roy chuckled, then his expression turned hard.

"I don't think we can trust Olivier Armstrong much longer." He sighed.

Riza looked up at Roy in shock.

"You mean..?"

"Yes. I think we were betrayed. How else could the invasion from Drachma take place?"

Riza said nothing and started to return fire. Roy looked to his right to see Alex Luis Armstrong fighting a group of soldiers by himself.

"Prepare to witness the technique handed down the Armstrong family for generations!" he shouted before thrusting his fists into the ground. A barrage of arrows fired toward enemy lines.

"Colonel! Dead ahead!" shouted Riza.

Roy smirked and readied himself. He let them come a little bit closer. Then he snapped, sending a torrent of flame towards the enemy line.

XXXX

Resembool

"Be quiet Den." Sighed Winry. "If you stop struggling, this will be over soon."

The scene in the Rockbell house was quiet. Since Pinako passed away, Winry was the only human occupant. Den had gotten his automail leg trapped in a rabbit hole once again, and it broke.

Winry sighed again. If he were here, he'd be able to fix it with alchemy.

_No._ thought Winry. _It's been 3 years since Ed and Al left. If they were going to come back, they would have done so already._

There was a whir and a click, and the automail connected itself with Den's nerves. He jumped back in pain.

"There you go, Den." Sighed Winry.

The dog then went to his spot in the corner.

Winry smirked, then went to look out the window again. As she kept doing for the past 3 years, looking for any signs of Ed and Al.

She sighed sadly and went to look at the board of photos she had in the kitchen. She picked one up.

"Dammit Ed." She whispered. "Why did you have to be noble?"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Winry opened it.

"Lieutenant Ross!" she said, shocked. "What brings you here?"

"Word on the street is that you're the one of the best automail mechanics out there." She said. "We would like for you to come and join us. Amestris is in the middle of an invasion, and automail can save many lives."

"Invasion?" asked Winry.

Ross nodded. "Colonel Mustang believes we were betrayed by Olivier Armstrong, the solider in charge of Fort Briggs, way in the north."

"Fort Briggs?" asked Winry. "Never heard of it."

"Not many people have." Chuckled Ross. "So. Can we count on your assistance?"

Winry nodded. "Yes. Does the automail need to be like Ed's?"

Ross shrugged. "Many of the soldiers don't have the same physic as Ed. But the general design would have to be similar."

"Alright. I'll do it." Said Winry, a stern expression on her face.


	5. Chapter 5

Berlin- UFA studios- 1926

"So you see, Ed. Times have changed."

Edward, Noah, Alphonse and Fritz Lang were walking through out Fritz's studio. Fritz was giving Alphonse and Noah a small tour.

"Yeah, they sure have Fritz." Sighed Ed. "But why did you decide to come back now?"

"Well, you see Ed." Sighed Fritz. "Rumor has it that a new war is going to take place here in Germany. In fact. It's not just Germany they're talking about a possible new war. There was talk about it in America too."

"A new war? Didn't Germany just finish a war?" asked Alphonse.

Fritz turned to look at Alphonse, and Alphonse looked up in surprise.

"You must be Ed's brother Alphonse." Said Fritz, holding out his hand. "Your brother has told me a lot about you."

Alphonse jumped back with a yelp. In a flash back, he remembered how Fuehrer King Bradley had killed Martel. Alphonse was trying to hide her as a promise to Greed. With a quick draw from his sword, Bradley had thrust it into Alphonse's armor, killing her. He couldn't take it anymore. The resemblance was too much for Alphonse. The voice, the eye, the person himself.

Before Alphonse knew it, he was running. He had to get away. This person…. Homunculus, whatever he was, was surly going to kill him given the chance. He kept having random flashbacks as he ran. Martel being killed. Pride vs. Scar. He fairly nearly killed him. Or so Scar said. Before Alphonse knew it, he'd run into a heavily wooded area. He felt safe here.

XXX

"Was there something I did?" asked Fritz.

"Oh, no it's nothing personal." Said Edward. "You just kind of remind him of someone we knew back home."

Edward grabbed his coat and ran out, Fritz and Noah following.

"Hey, Alphonse!" shouted Edward.

_Dammit Al!_ thought Edward as he ran. _Why the hell did you have to freak out!_

"Hey Edward!" Edward heard a shout behind him. He turned in surprise, but it was only Noah who shouted.

"Noah?" asked Edward, confused.

"Edward, what's wrong?" asked Noah, clearly concerned.

"Al had a freak out. He ran to hide somewhere. Hey Fritz? Do you know of any woods nearby?" asked Edward.

"Woods, eh?" sighed Fritz. "Why yes I do. Just a few blocks that way." He pointed to the right.

"Why did Al freak out, Edward? Was it something to do with…" Noah paused.

"With our world?" asked Edward through gritted teeth. "Yeah. He probably had a flashback or something like that. Hey Fritz. Do you know anything about alchemy?" asked Edward.

"Alchemy?" asked Fritz. The group turned around a corner. "No not really. Why Ed?"

"In the world Al and I are from.." started Edward, out of breath and turning another corner. "Alchemy is the main science. It's basic law is Equivalent Exchange."

"That makes sense." Said Noah. "But what does this have to do with Al?"

"I'm getting to that." Edward sputtered. He stopped, and bent over, his hands on his knees for support, breathing hard. "Dammit. Since when was running so hard?"

"Uh. Maybe we could walk instead of just run." Suggested Noah, who was also out of breath.

The group started walking slowly towards the woods Fritz had located.

"In our world and yours, there are some differences, but some similarities as well. Like Fritz said one time. Maybe there is another Fritz. Well. There is. But we know him as Fuehrer King Bradley. He's a homunculus, an artificial human being created with alchemy."

Fritz stopped and gasped in surprise. "So that's why you thought you recognized me."

"Yes." Said Edward. "Homunculi take the shape of those who's form they were supposed to represent." Edward stopped and glared at Fritz. "That dragon you were after…. Was a homunculus."

"Dragon?" asked Noah.

"So dragons aren't real." sighed Fritz sadly.

"In our worlds, no." sighed Edward. "But you were right about one thing, Fritz." Sighed Edward as he stopped and looked up at the sky.

"In our world. Alchemy surpassed physics. Our mother died from a sickness that was incurable. Al and I tried to bring her back, using human transmutation, which is forbidden."

Noah gasped. "What did you loose in exchange? That body of armor I saw…. That had something to do with it."

"Yeah." Edward sighed. "That was Al you saw."

Noah gasped, frightened. "W-What do you mean, Edward?"

"Al lost everything. His body and soul. At the cost of my arm, I transmuted his soul into a piece of armor. After that I joined the military and became a state alchemist. For four years, Al and I searched for a way to restore our bodies back to normal. And we found it." Edward paused sadly.

"Found what?" asked Fritz, engrossed in the story. Edward stood there.

"The philosopher's stone." Sighed Edward. "The main ingredient for a stone is human life. And a lot of it. When we learned about it, we didn't want to use it, but then Al became a philosopher's stone. Envy killed me and, using the stone, Al brought me back, at the cost of himself. I brought him back, and as payment, I was brought to this world."

"So that's why you didn't have a home." Sighed Noah sadly.

Edward began moving again, sighing.

"So that's why he ran off." Said Fritz. "I suppose I look like that Bradley person."

"Exactly like him." Muttered Edward.

"I see."

"There's the forest. I suggest we split up." Said Edward.

Edward went in one direction, and Noah and Fritz in another. All three calling Al's name.

"Hey Alphonse!" shouted Edward.

Edward ran around the forest, shouting his name and eventually found him.

"Why the hell did you take off like that?!" shouted Edward.

"He looks just like him, Brother. Bradley… He killed Martel."

"Dammit Alphonse! Don't start freaking out on my OK?" shouted Edward.

"OK Brother."

Suddenly they were joined by Fritz and Noah, no doubt attracted by Edward's shouting.

"Here, Al. I'll show you." Edward walked over to Fritz. "Hey Fritz. Do you mind showing Al your eye?"

"Not at all." Said Fritz, and he took off his monocle and showed Alphonse his eye.

"See Al? No tattoo." Edward sighed. "Homunculi don't exist in this world. It's a world without alchemy."

Suddenly Alphonse looked up in surprise and shock. He pointed behind them, and Edward heard the cocking of a gun.

"If you promise to come with us quietly…" the Nazi solider warned.

Edward turned around slowly, and saw, in the front of the group- Officer Hughes.

A look of deep anger etched itself onto Edward's face as he faced the man in front of him.


End file.
